Criticism increases our entanglement in illusory dualities

We criticize when we are :

• Envious
• Unfairly treated
• Have Experienced Trauma

Why do we criticize:

• Makes us feel better about ourselves
• Revenge for unfair treatment and coping with trauma

However, this evaluation of good or bad is based on matter. Criticizing does not help us heal our pain.

Why is criticism harmful:

• We become entangled further in Maya and illusion as we further cement our materialistic viewpoint. The qualities good and bad we see are based on matter and thus temporary and have no basis
• We end up getting the qualities that we criticize by constantly associating with them in our mind
• We lose focus of our eternal identity, life and goal of serving Krishna.
• It increases our attachment to the material world and its dualities

The above points have been derived from the following verses by Lord Sri Krsna to Uddhava:

SB 11.28.1 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One should neither praise nor criticize the conditioned nature and activities of other persons. Rather, one should see this world as simply the combination of material nature and the enjoying souls, all based on the one Absolute Truth.

SB 11.28.2 — Whoever indulges in praising or criticizing the qualities and behavior of others will quickly become deviated from his own best interest by his entanglement in illusory dualities.

SB 11.28.3 — Just as the embodied spirit soul loses external consciousness when his senses are overcome by the illusion of dreaming or the deathlike state of deep sleep, so a person experiencing material duality must encounter illusion and death.

SB 11.28.4 — That which is expressed by material words or meditated upon by the material mind is not ultimate truth. What, therefore, is actually good or bad within this insubstantial world of duality, and how can the extent of such good and bad be measured?

SB 11.28.5 — Although shadows, echoes and mirages are only illusory reflections of real things, such reflections do cause a semblance of meaningful or comprehensible perception. In the same way, although the identification of the conditioned soul with the material body, mind and ego is illusory, this identification generates fear within him even up to the moment of death.

SB 11.28.6-7 — The Supersoul alone is the ultimate controller and creator of this world, and thus He alone is also the created. Similarly, the Soul of all existence Himself both maintains and is maintained, withdraws and is withdrawn. No other entity can be properly ascertained as separate from Him, the Supreme Soul, who nonetheless is distinct from everything and everyone else. The appearance of the threefold material nature, which is perceived within Him, has no actual basis. Rather, you should understand that this material nature, composed of the three modes, is simply the product of His illusory potency.

SB 11.28.8 — One who has properly understood the process of becoming firmly fixed in theoretical and realized knowledge, as described herein by Me, does not indulge in material criticism or praise. Like the sun, he wanders freely throughout this world.

SB 11.28.9 — By direct perception, logical deduction, scriptural testimony and personal realization, one should know that this world has a beginning and an end and so is not the ultimate reality. Thus one should live in this world without attachment.

How Krishna sees Racists and those who possess a differential outlook ?

SB 3.29.26

As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.

Purport: 

There are bodily differentiations among all varieties of living entities, but a devotee should not distinguish between one living entity and another on such a basis; a devotee’s outlook should be that both the soul and Supersoul are equally present in all varieties of living entities.

Also Brahma says this to Lord Shiva in SB 4.6.47:
Persons who observe everything with differentiation, who are simply attached to fruitive activities, who are mean-minded, who are always pained to see the flourishing condition of others and who thus give distress to them by uttering harsh and piercing words have already been killed by providence. Thus there is no need for them to be killed again by an exalted personality like you.

Persons who are materialistic and always engaged in fruitive activities for material profit cannot endure seeing the flourishing life of others. Except for a few persons in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the entire world is full of such envious persons, who are perpetually full of anxieties because they are attached to the material body and are without self-realization. Since their hearts are always filled with anxiety, it is understood that they have already been killed by providence. Thus Lord Śiva, as a self-realized Vaiṣṇava, was advised not to kill Dakṣa. A Vaiṣṇava is described aspara-duḥkha-duḥkhī because although he is never distressed in any condition of life, he is distressed to see others in a distressed condition. Vaiṣṇavas, therefore, should not try to kill by any action of the body or mind but should try to revive the Kṛṣṇa consciousness of others out of compassion for them. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has been started to deliver the envious persons of the world from the clutches of māyā, and even though devotees are sometimes put into trouble, they push on the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in all tolerance. Lord Caitanya advises:

tṛṇād api sunīcena
 taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
 kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

“One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” (Śikṣāṣṭaka 3)

A Vaiṣṇava should follow the examples of such Vaiṣṇavas as Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Nityānanda Prabhu and also Lord Jesus Christ. There is no need to kill anyone who has already been killed. But it should be noted herewith that a Vaiṣṇava should not tolerate the blaspheming of Viṣṇu or Vaiṣṇavas, although he should tolerate personal insults to himself.

Lessons from Killing of Putana

See Devotees from Krsna's point of view:
Krsna appreciates whatever little devotion one has and whatever service one does. Putana was pretending to serve Krsna but had the ulterior motive of harming Krsna.However Krsna only saw that she offered to feed Him milk and there fore granted her liberation and a permanent residence in Goloka Vrindavan.
Who am I to find fault with devotees who are so nicely and lovingly engaged in service to Krsna.

 Srila Prabhupada's quote :
"But Krsna did not take that. Just like Pütanä. Pütanä wanted to kill Krsna. That was his (her) plan. But Krsna, because He sucked the breast of Pütanä, He took him (her) as His mother. This is Krsna. Krsna never takes the bad side. Krsna takes always the bright side. Pütanä, although she came to cheat Krsna, but how Krsna will cheat? Krsna thought that "I have sucked her breast, so she is My mother. She should go to the same place where Yashodamayi is going." This is Krsna."

Putana's disguise:
Putana disguised herself as a Gopi and pretended to perform the service of of nursing baby Krsna - however she did this to satisfy her ulterior motive. However Krsna exposed her reality very soon.
I maybe disguising myself as a pure devotee and performing so called devotional service to satisfy some of my ulterior motives. However over time if I don't set my consciousness on the right track Krsna being very merciful will expose me not only to myself but to the entire devotee community just like He exposed Putana's real motives and form to everyone- it will be very embarrassing and difficult mercy to take.
I must be mindful of my motivations and desires and correct them else Krsna will intervene and that purification will be difficult to take.

One must carry out the order of the Spiritual master and serve the brahamanas nicely

In the sixth canto after Indra offends his Guru Brhaspati , the demigods were being rapidly defeated by the demons who took advantage of their weak condition.Being thus bewidered and weakened the demigoids approached Lord Brahma for help.

On looking at their pitiable condition Lord Brahma said :

SB 6.7.22: Because of your misbehavior toward Bṛhaspati, you have been defeated by the demons. My dear demigods, since the demons were weak, having been defeated by you several times, how else could you, who were so advanced in opulence, be defeated by them?

All the opulence we possess is thus a result of the blessings of Guru and the Guru Parampara. By ourselves without the mercy of the Spiritual Master and the Guru Paramapara we are insignificant. Any of our endeavors is successful only because if the mercy and the backing of the entire Guru Parampara.

Prior to devotional life every endeavor of mine was plagued with many hurdles and resulted in miniscule success. However in devotional life anything done under the direction of authority is always successful. Pleasing our authorities means we follow their directions properly.When we do so we are able to recieve their blessings and mercy to complete the endeavor.

However if we offend our authority we will find ourselves completely weakened like the demigods.The mercy will be withdrawn automatically.

Further in the 8th canto,in the fight between the demons and the demigods after the nectar from the churning of the milk ocean is consumed by the demigods, Bali was defeated, and he died in the fight, but by the grace of Śukrācārya he regained his life. Thus he engaged himself in the service of Śukrācārya, his spiritual master.
The descendants of Bhṛgu, being pleased with him, engaged him in the Viśvajit-yajña. When this yajña was performed, from the fire of yajña came a chariot, horses, a flag, a bow, armor and two quivers of arrows. Mahārāja Prahlāda, Bali Mahārāja's grandfather, gave Bali an eternal garland of flowers, and Śukrācārya gave him a conchshell. Bali Mahārāja, after offering obeisances to Prahlāda, the brāhmaṇas and his spiritual master, Śukrācārya, equipped himself to fight with Indra and went to Indrapurī with his soldiers.Blowing his conchshell, he attacked the outskirts of Indra's kingdom. When Indra saw Bali Mahārāja's prowess, he went to his own spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, told him about Bali's strength, and inquired about his duty. Bṛhaspati informed the demigods that because Bali had been endowed with extraordinary power by the brāhmaṇas, the demigods could not fight with him. Bali was endowed with the blessings of the descendents of Bhrgupati, the blessings of his spritual master Sukracarya because he had pleased him and also his forefathers.

Agaian we see that by the mercy of the spiritual master and the brahamanas Bali Maharaj becomes very powerful.
Srila Prabhupada writes in this regard in 8.15.28:
We sing in our daily prayers, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi **. By the pleasure of the spiritual master, one can get extraordinary power, especially in spiritual advancement. The blessings of the spiritual master are more powerful than one's personal endeavor for such advancement. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore says:


guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya,āra nā kariha mane āśā **

Especially for spiritual advancement, one should carry out the bona fide order of the spiritual master. By the paramparā system, one can thus be endowed with the original spiritual power coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead (evaḿ paramparā-prāptam imaḿ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg. 4.2]).

Hiranyakasipu ruined due to offenses to Prahlada - a mahabhagavat

SB 7.4.29
When Hiraṇyakaśipu teases the great devotee Prahlāda, his own son, who is peaceful and sober and who has no enemy, I shall kill Hiraṇyakaśipu immediately, despite the benedictions of Brahmā.

Purport:
Of all sinful activities, an offense to a pure devotee, or Vaiṣṇava, is the most severe. An offense at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava is so disastrous that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has compared it to a mad elephant that enters a garden and causes great havoc by uprooting many plants and trees. If one is an offender at the lotus feet of a brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava, his offenses uproot all his auspicious activities. One should therefore very carefully guard against committing vaiṣṇava-aparādha, or offenses at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava. Here the Lord clearly says that although Hiraṇyakaśipu had received benedictions from Lord Brahmā, these benedictions would be null and void as soon as he committed an offense at the lotus feet of Prahlāda Mahārāja, his own son. A Vaiṣṇava like Prahlāda Mahārāja is described herein as nirvaira, having no enemies. Elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.21) it is said, ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ: a devotee has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime. A devotee does not create enmity with anyone, but if someone becomes his enemy, that person will be vanquished by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, despite whatever benedictions he may have received from other sources. Hiraṇyakaśipu was certainly enjoying the fruitful results of his austerities, but here the Lord says that as soon as he committed an offense at the lotus feet of Prahlāda Mahārāja he would be ruined. One's longevity, opulence, beauty, education and whatever else one may possess as a result of pious activities cannot protect one if one commits an offense at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava. Despite whatever one possesses, if one offends the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava he will be vanquished.

Purport to SB 7.4.45:
When a demon like Hiraṇyakaśipu, despite his elevated position due to severe austerities, begins to tease a devotee, he begins falling down, and the results of his austerities dwindle. One who oppresses a pure devotee loses all the results of his austerities, penances and pious activities. Since Hiraṇyakaśipu was now inclined to chastise his most exalted devotee son, Prahlāda Mahārāja, his opulences began dwindling.

Indra's 3rd offense:Kills a great devotee Vrtrasura and Rsi Dadhici

Vrtrasura was a devotee in the guise of a demon and he was performing his devotional service on the battlefield by fighting with Indra. Vrtrasura the demon was created because of Indra's offense of killing Vishwarupa.To protect himself from the reaction of killing Vishwarupa , Indra had to commit 2 more offenses - asking Rsi Dadhici for his bones to make the thunderbolt(i.e asks Dadhici for his life) and kill a great dvotee like Vrtrasura.

Lessons from 3rd offense:

Offenses are entangling. To protect ourselves from reactions to our offense we commit further offenses and get entangled in the mess. Best is to take a humble position and ask for forgiveness from the Vaishnavas and the Lord and tolerate the reaction instead of trying to counter attack it with further arrangements.

We see that Indra does not learn between these offenses as he is overwhelmed in trying to counteract these offenses.On hearing this story we can see the correlation between his offenses and the reaction and may wonder why Indra does not humbly accept the situation and try to understand Krsna's message for him.However in our personal situation when we encounter difficult times we fail to realize it is due to our past offenses.My personal situation is not very different from Indra.I fail to learn the lessons from difficult situations. I am very far from the realization that they are due to my past Krma even if I theoretically understand it. I spend a lot of time in trying to counteract the difficulty and forget on using this as an opportunity to further my relationship with Krsna. I pray that this important message stays with me.

The Lord has used His devotee Indra to perform these pastimes to teach me some wonderful messages and I hope and pray that I can learn from them.

Indra 1st offense: does not offer proper respect to his Guru Brhaspati

In the 6th canto, in the story of Vrtrasura- a great devotee of the Lord we read about Indra offending the three Brahmanas - Brhaspati, Vishwarupa and Vrtrasura.He is haunted by the resulting sinful reactions and does not find peace anywhere. To protect himself from the results of each offense he commits a new offense each time. We see that he keeps getting thus entangled due to his attachment for material opulence and power.This is not very different from what neophytes like me get entangled in.

This is a three part article that helps us examine the different motivations for each of the offenses and the lessons to be learned from each so that we can try to avoid the same and be more respectful in our interactions.In each part we will examine each offense.

Indra's first offense : Indra Offends Brhaspati, his Guru
Once when Brhaspati , the spiritual master of all the demigods was visiting Lord Indra, Indra did not get up from his seat , did not offer obeisances and neither offered a seat to him, even when he was his Guru. This was a grave transgression of etiquette. Indra was also accepting worship and glorification in his Guru's presence and because of being overly attached and proud of his material opulence he forgot his duties.

Lessons from the first offense :
Srila Prabhupada states in the purport to SB 6.7.12 "According to the laws of nature, when one is extremely opulent one becomes degraded, and this is true both individually and collectively".
Material opulence leads to pride. As we see in this pastime - pride and obsession with the material energy makes us callous towards vedic ideals. We may not experience such gross material opulence like Indra- being fanned by Gandharvas, Kinnaras with Apsaras dancing and white umbrella's over our head.However we experience the subtle opulence of fame, prestige, extraordinary talent, high position at work, etc.If we are not firmly rooted in our sadhana we will remain in material consciousness by enjoying those things and go further deep in material consciousness. We will become callous and commit offenses to people around us.

By committing offenses - aparadha , Radharani's mercy will leave us and we will slip in our devotional service. Offenses make us weak in our spiritual life. We not only slip from the spiritual platform but we also become increasingly susceptible to Maya's attacks.. We can also see this with Indra- because of this offense we see him gliding down further in the material pool and committing further offenses.Being firmly rooted in our sadhana, in strong association of devotees and developing a service attitude towards devotees will help us protect ourselves from mundane pride and its effects. By associating and serving devotees we will be able to see their wonderful qualities which our many times better than us.

We must accept our situation as a result of our previous actions and thus pray fervently to the Supreme Lord Krsna for His mercy and offer devotional service unto Him. This will clear all the misgivings in our heart.

In the next post we will see the effects of the first offense and how Indra gets entangled as a result of this offense. And then how he commits another offense to counteract the effects of this offense.

Indra's 2nd offense: Kills Vishwarupa - a brahmana and the new Guru of the demigods

Continuation from :Indra 1st offense: offends his Guru ब्रहस्पति

Indra's second offense : Kills Vishwarupa
All the demigods and Indra were in lamentation over their offense towards Brhaspati and their minds were not peaceful.Indra tried searching for Brhaspati to ask for forgiveness, but Brhaspati had made himself invisible to Indra.The demons took advantage of their weak state and attacked the demigods.The demigods approached Lord Brahma who said that it is due to their offense that they have been rendered weak and susceptible to the attack of the demons. The demons were strong because they had served their Guru Sukracarya with great devotion. The demigods accepted Vishwarupa as their Guru as directed by Lord Brahma.Vishwarupa provided them with the Narayana Kavacha shield which protected them from the strong attack of the demons.However, once Indra saw Vishwarupa secretly offering the remnants of yajnas to the demons( who were also his ancestors) . He feared that this might make the demons strong again Unable to tolerate this he beheads Vishwarupa and thus commits the second offense to a brahmana.

Driving force for the 2nd offense:Fear of losing material possessions and position
We see that Indra repents his offense towards Brhaspati and wants to ask for forgiveness. However the repentance is not in full as he offends the newly appointed Guru of the demigods Vishwarupa . The driving force for both the offenses is the same -too much attachment to material opulence and power. In the first case it blinds him from his duties and in the second case the fear of losing it makes him kill Vishwarupa.

When he had no position he accepted Vishwarupa as his master but once he got his power and position he killed his own master.

Lessons from the second offense
Importance of gratitude:
When Indra saw himself losing to the demons he along with the demigods very humbly approached Lord Brahma and Vishwarupa.However once he got the Narayana Kavacha shield and his power to defeat the demons he lost his gratitude for Vishwarupa. Being afraid of losing his material opulence to the demons again he killed him.In our initial years of Krishna Consciousness we we are very receptive and humble , but once we make some advancement and get some position along with it we might not take our spiritual master seriously and offend him and our seniors.Development of gratitude towards our spiritual master and other vaishnavas is of utmost importance in our spiritual lives. We are completely made of their mercy. Any small service we think we are doing is possible only by the unseen efforts of many devotees in the background and the blessings of seniors and our spiritual master. This recognition is extremely important in developing respect and gratitude to protect us from committing offenses.

Develop the mood of receiving:Apart from giving protection from the demons ,the Narayana Kavaca shield was also a protection from "falling from duties due to madness" and "unnecessary pride" . Indra had the shield but he was overcome by madness and pride and killed Vishwarupa.The mood of receiving of the shield was perhaps fruitive in nature (protection from demons) and it worked to that purpose and not to the purposes mentioned above. In our devotional service we are privy to various forms of mercy, e.g. opportunities of hearing transcendental nectar - the nectar will work proportional to our mood of receiving.'ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamyaham" - "as they surrender unto Me--I reward accordingly"

In the next post we will see that in a bid to protect himself from the results of the 2nd offense Indra commits yet another offense.We will try to pick out some practical messages applicable to us.
Also read : Indra's 3rd offense:Kills a great devotee Vrtrasura and Rsi Dadhici